If you’ve been reading my blogs, you’ll know I’ve had great results using Chinese herbs to treat lymphedema. I have primary lower leg lymphedema, mostly impacting my left leg, but sometimes impacting my right leg and left hand. The Chinese herbs work so well I no longer need to wear compression stockings, elevate or do any of the daily massage. I simply stay active and wear compression when I fly or take a long drive.
I previously tried a bunch of herbs on my own with no results, but once I tried Chinese herbs through a Chinese medicine practitioner, it worked. Being a serious condition, lymphedema seems to need large quantities of herbs and certain combinations that are tailored for your own circumstances. Unless you’ve studied Chinese herbs for years, you and I don’t really have a chance of getting it right. Plus taking large quantities of herbs is powerful and you might get reactions. These are all reasons that I only recommend working with a trained professional.
But since Chinese medicine is quite different from regular medicine, you probably won’t get much help from your regular medical doctors. Instead it requires some research.
Will using chinese herbs to treat lymphedema work for you?
I can’t really answer that question confidently, since there’s not much information out there about people using treating lymphedema with Chinese herbs. That’s why I started this blog! But since then I’ve been seeing more and more positive confirmation on its effectiveness. Personally, I’ve been able to get similar results now using two different traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. That makes me believe this is repeatable and not a fluke or some type of placebo effect.
And since I’ve written this blog, I’ve heard from others who have had similar results, and heard about other TCM doctors who have each treated between 5 to 10 people. Obviously there’s a long way to go to get more people trying this, but I find all of this information very encouraging.
Finding a Good Chinese Herb Provider
Since I’ve started this blog I’ve gotten many questions on how to go about finding a Chinese medicine doctor to work with. So here’s my suggestions.
- Start with google. I’ve been able to find Chinese medicine doctors in many countries for acupuncture, so it appears that Chinese medicine is quite common even in most western countries. So I’d start by searching for “Chinese medicine” or “Chinese medicine in (my city name)”. If there’s any, they should come up. If you don’t see any, search for “acupuncture near me”, since most (but not all) acupuncturists also provide Chinese herbs. If you live in a small town or rural area, you may need to expand your search.
- Look for reviews. Cross reference any you find with review sites, if possible. I’m a big fan of Yelp.com and other review sites. While there might be some unfair reviews, it can be a great source of information. Did people write reviews saying they got results? Do reviews show that Chinese medicine doctor or practitioner is a caring provider and a good communicator? All of those are very important, especially if you’re not that familiar with Chinese herbs and Chinese medicine.
- Call or email first as an initial screen. I always try to find out if the provider has any experience with lymphedema, what are their prices, and where they source they herbs from (you need to make sure they can provide herbs that are free of harmful chemicals or compounds). If they don’t have experience treating lymphedema, that is not necessarily a deal breaker but it certainly helps minimize the chance of you being part of their learning curve.
- Verify credentials. Just to be safe, you can verify the credentials they have on their website or business card. Also it’s a good idea to google their name further and/or look for any state or national
Not exactly a mysterious process but one that requires some care.
Doctor or Practitioner?
Since Chinese medicine is not the same as western medicine, you’ll notice that some people who practice traditional Chinese medicine have formal titles of doctors or physicians, but some may not. This is a tough one. Ideal world I always like to work with a doctor…someone who has had extensive training. These herbs are powerful and if I have a strange reaction I’d prefer to talk to someone who has been through more general medicine training.
This will likely depend upon your country’s (and state’s) regulation of Chinese medicine practitioners. In the US, this is a regulated industry. (https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/what-traditional-chinese-medicine/-tcm-regulated)
This is all just my layperson’s opinion so please take it with a grain of salt and always consult your health care providers first.
To me, experience and training are both important. I give a lot more weight to someone who has completed years of training and testing than someone who took a year certificate course. If they have helped many people solve difficult health problems that means a lot to me. I would be hesitant to see someone who is more of a casual provider. In fact I have had acupuncture done by these more casual providers—those who just pursued acupuncture training—and to me it is a different world than getting treated by someone who is (or was) a doctor or has received an equivalent PhD. It’s just a higher level of training and hopefully experience.
Patience is Required
Then, once you start, remember, it’s a natural remedy. It doesn’t work instantly. Your goal here is long term reduction of swelling so it will take time.
The first time I used chinese herbs to treat lymphedema, I had to take herbs for four months straight to finally see any improvement. Then the improvements continued for several months, then leveled out.
The second time, I got results within just a few weeks. I’ve had to put a hold on the herbs for a while because of my travel schedule, but that second time it was encouraging to get such quick results. It’s very possible I need to do this every few years so it’s good to know the “maintenance” of it will likely be a lot less.
Of course, I’m very curious if I can get rid of it all together with Chinese medicine and herb treatment. I will be trying that in a few months
Good luck in your search. If you have any other tips or comments on finding a provider, please share them!
I found you when I googled Lymphedema treatments with eastern Chinese medicines. I am so pleased that you took the time to create this blog. I have experienced many emotional levels and decluttering my life of negative people(family included) and material possessions to reach a calm acceptance to move my ass and find a Chinese Holistic treatment. I do not know why I decided that approach maybe divine intervention♀️. I am 63yo and not clear to why I have Lymphedema to my left leg first & now beginning my right leg. BUT, I do know that Western Doctors are fill of shit. If I have to take the equity from my precious home, I will because I have been directed to the Chinese approach and found your blog. Thank you again. I have many relatives in New Zealand on the North side – Rotaruta (?) and Mahia. BEAUTIFUL!! By the way, can you recommend a doctor on Nothern California (Bay Area?)
Sincerely, Jan Cardiff. talljan@att.net
Hi Jan, thank you for writing. I think we all can relate to your feelings about this condition. I’m no spring chicken so I have been through alot in my life too and this was probably the most depressing simply because of the mantra that it’s incurable and progressive. I have many MD friends and very much respect their knowledge, but they are only trained to treat specific problems. Awhile ago I met a gentleman who is a phd in biochemstry (I believe) and was in the medical industry, and ended up establishing a consulting practice to help cancer patients find help, across the spectrum of western and eastern approaches. He said he now tells people to add this on the end of everything a western doc tells them: “based on our current knowledge”. I loved that! But with lymphedema so many people stop looking for answers outside of that–when they are told “there’s nothing you can do”. Or “what you eat doesn’t matter”. Very sad. Unfortunately I don’t know of any good TCM docs in the bay area but I’m sure there’s some excellent ones in that region. Yelp is a good resource as it seems that the really good ones will have many great reviews and few bad reviews. I would personally avoid ones that don’t have many reviews good or bad, as they may not have enough experience to get good results. I’ve certainly seen a few of those for other things over the past few decades. Especially with the chinese herbs, I think they need some pretty deep experience–like a decade or more at least. One of my goals with this blog is to create a directory of TCM docs that have worked with lymphedema, who understand it, but unfortunately I’m not there yet. Best of luck and please let us know how it goes!
Can you share your herbal formulas and insight into how the herbalist diagnosed you? I’m curious as to how TCM is about tailoring to individual needs and so curious as to which formula they gave you.
Hi Nou, thanks for reading. In my experience all the herbs for my lymphedema have been custom formulated. I am familiar with the single formula TCM tablets and have received those when going in for other issues, but have not heard from anyone that those work for lymphedema. I’ve had two TCM doctors treat my lymphedema and both had very different approaches, but both gave me custom formulas and then varied those periodically (about every month or so). If I hear of one formula that people are having results with I would be sure to post so more people could try it, but have not heard of anything yet and my guess is that each of us require a different approach.
Hi Jeanne,
I’m suffereing from Secondary Lymphedema induced in my body bcoz of Grave’s Disease (Hyperthyroidicism).
Can U share the contact numbers & email IDs of the TCM doctors with whom You have consulted for this problem.
Regards.
Hi Saeed,
The TCM doc I’m working with now can work with you via skype and mail the herbs, and he’s good…although to be clear, he wasn’t the one that helped me initially get the significant results. But he has helped me maintain the results. Here’s an interview we did with him: https://fightlymphedema.com/interview-chinese-medicine-lymphedema1/. Best of luck!